Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
I tilted my head at the answer. It wasn’t wrong, but…was he embarrassed to say what kind of project—
“Daisy is a romance author,” Asher continued, and I blew out a breath.
“Oh, that’s awesome!” Harper said. “I read a ton. Do you write under your name or a pen name?”
“My name,” I said. “Daisy Lewis.”
Harper pulled out her phone and typed my name in a web browser, and I did that thing where I tried not to be awkward in my own body. I loved my work, and I was incredibly proud of my books, but there was something about another person googling my name right in front of me that made me feel like I was expected to perform on the spot or something.
“Added!” Harper declared happily, then furrowed her brow as she sat down her phone. “Wait, how did my brother help you?”
I laughed, and Asher said, “Really, sis? You ask that like I couldn’t possibly be any help—”
“With a romance novel?” Harper cut him off, laughing with me. “I’m just trying to figure out exactly what you’re offering. It’s not like you’re the love-letter type or even a grand gesture type—”
“Thanks,” Asher said, but his features were light, showing the love and trust between him and his sister. He waved to me. “Please enlighten my baby sister.”
I grinned, so beyond relieved he hadn’t been embarrassed about how we met. “Asher was kind enough to let me shadow him for a month,” I explained. “The book I’m writing has a billionaire main character, and since one of my best friend’s is engaged to Brogan Grant, I kind of got the special introduction.”
Harper’s eyebrows raised. “You shadowed my brother for an entire month? Like, stuck to his crazy schedule and everything?”
“Yep,” I said. “I never got used to those pre-dawn wake-ups, but the shadowing helped authenticate my character a ton.”
“That’s fun,” she said, her eyes flashing between us. “And now—”
“And now, we should watch the game,” Asher said, giving her a look that said leave it alone.
And I couldn’t blame him either. Neither of us had had a discussion about what we were doing, and again, I didn’t mind that. I lived my life in the moment anyway, so as long as we were both happy, that’s all that really mattered to me.
“Okay, okay,” she said, but gave me a genuine smile all the same. It was a comforting one after what could’ve been an uncomfortable conversation. Especially if Asher had gone the other way and left out the details of how we met—which I half expected him to—since he was a perfectly tailored billionaire and I was a scatterbrained writer on the best of days.
The game was phenomenal and by the time we were down to the last minutes, my body was surging with adrenaline, as if I’d been the one on the ice. I always loved that about hockey, how captivating it was, and the Reapers never failed to deliver one hell of a show, even if they lost. Which we didn’t today.
“I’m going to head toward the locker rooms to meet Nathan,” Harper said while pushing out of her chair. “It was super nice to meet you, Daisy,” she said. “I hope to see more of you.”
“Likewise,” I said. She hugged her brother, then headed out of the box, leaving me and Asher alone. “She’s wonderful,” I said.
Asher nodded, leaning back in his chair in a relaxed way with an easy smile on his face. “She’s something,” he said. “Glad you got to meet her. I would’ve told you, but I wasn’t sure she was going to sit with us or sit down in the family seats.”
“No worries here,” I said. “I loved meeting her.”
“I’m glad,” he said, then eyed my grin. “What are you thinking right now?”
“I’m thinking how much I love seeing you like this.”
“Like what?”
“Relaxed. Excited about the game. It’s fun to watch how invested you are in your players.”
“It’s nothing compared to how much you’re invested in my players,” he teased. “I feel like I could give you control and you’d lead us straight to another Cup—”
“Shh!” I covered his mouth with my finger, stopping him. “Don’t jinx us, it’s the first preseason game!”
He flicked his tongue over my finger, and I laughed.
“You’re as superstitious as my players.”
“I’m a true fan, you know that. Don’t jinx my team.”
Asher cocked a brow at me, gently gripping my wrist and hauling me out of my chair and against him. “Your team, huh?”
My breath caught as I looked up at him, his body flush with mine where we stood between the tall chairs. “Yeah,” I said, but it came out a breathy whisper. “Mine.”
Something churned in his eyes, and he leaned down, slanting his mouth over mine in a claiming kiss that had me forgetting the conversation entirely. I whimpered as his tongue swept into my mouth, kissing me with sweeping strokes that made my heart race. I fisted his shirt, tugging him closer, giving him everything in return.